Read A Soldier's Daughter, and Other Stories Page 9

  HOW COUNT CONRAD VON WALDENSTURM TOOK GOLDSTEIN

  "A cheerful home-coming, Johann," Conrad von Waldensturm said bitterly."Fool that I was to believe that Goldstein would be bound by any oath!'Tis well that I had heard the news, and that I did not learn it forthe first time looking at the ruins of my home."

  "The Elector of Treves should do you justice, master."

  "The elector has his hands full with his quarrels with his neighbours,and would not care to take up arms against a powerful vassal. It wouldneed a strong force indeed to take Goldstein, and there are many who,although they love not the baron, would not care to war against himin a quarrel which did not greatly concern them. Had I been at homeI do not think that the baron would have dared thus to attack ourcastle without further pretext than that our families had always beenon bad terms; but when the emperor called upon all honourable gentlemento aid him in his struggle with the Turks I had no thought that harmmight come in my absence, or that death would take away my father, thebravest and best knight in the province, and that my sister Minna wouldbe left unprotected. Had I received the news earlier of my father'sdeath I might have been home in time, but if a messenger was sent totell me, which I doubt not was the case, some harm befell him on theway, and it was not until four months later that a knight from Treves,joining the army, told me the news. Then, as we fortunately defeatedthe Turks with heavy loss, the emperor permitted me to return home, butbefore I left the army this blow came: the castle was destroyed, mostof the retainers on the estate killed, and Minna carried away."

  The speaker, Count Conrad von Waldensturm, was a young man sometwenty-five years old. His father's castle stood on a steep hill abovethe Moselle. When he had left two years before it was strong andshapely--as fair a castle as any in the valley--now it was a ruin. Thestonework was for the most part but little injured, but the interiorhad been gutted by fire, and the empty windows looked mournfully outon the fair prospect. The gate was gone, and in several places thebattlements had been demolished; the moat was empty, the drawbridge haddisappeared.

  This was the work of Baron Wolff von Goldstein, whose castle lay sometwelve miles lower down the river. It was a much larger and strongerplace than the abode of Conrad's ancestors. For nigh a century therehad been little friendship between the lords of Waldensturm and thoseof Goldstein; they had taken different sides in the troubles of thattime, and the enmity thus created had never died out. The Baron vonGoldstein had been on the winning side and had been rewarded by thegift of fully half the lands of Waldensturm.

  When the emperor had called upon the nobles and barons of Germanyto aid him against the Turks, he had issued an order that all feudsshould, during their absence, be laid aside, and when allowing hisson to go to war the Count von Waldensturm had called upon Wolff vonGoldstein to take an oath that there should be peace between the twofamilies during his absence, and this the baron had done withouthesitation. But a month after the count's death Von Goldstein suddenlyfell upon the castle, put all the retainers to the sword, ravaged thewhole of the estate, and carried off Minna, a girl of fourteen, to hiscastle.

  The other speaker was Johann Bernkof, a stout man-at-arms and theleader of the little troop of eighteen retainers, the sole survivorsof fifty men who had followed their young lord to the war. These weresitting on their horses, some twenty yards behind the speakers, lookingin speechless wrath at the ruined castle, the remains of the villagewhich formerly stood down by the river's edge, the untilled fields,the wasted farms. What had befallen their families none knew. Fathers,brothers, and friends, who had been among the retainers of the castle,had almost certainly perished; where the women were sheltered, or whathad become of them, they knew not. As the count was speaking to Bernkofthey insensibly moved their horses up closer. The young count turnedsuddenly.

  "Well, men," he said, "you have been fighting well and manfully againstthe enemies of our country and our religion; it seems to me that wehave an enemy at home more faithless and more cruel than the Turks.Will you fight less manfully against him?"

  "We will fight to the death," the men shouted, drawing their swords,"for home and vengeance."

  "When the time comes I will call upon you," the young count said,"though I fear that we can do nothing at present. Were you ten timesas strong you could not hope to storm Goldstein. The first thing isto take care that no news that we have returned shall reach the baron,therefore scatter to your homes quietly and singly. If, as I fear willgenerally be the case, you find them destroyed, take shelter amongfriends who remain; lay aside your armour and appear as peaceful men;find out as far as possible where all who have escaped Von Goldstein'sattack are sheltered. Some, no doubt, will have gone elsewhere. Letthese be sought out and told, under promise of secrecy, that I havereturned. Bid all capable of bearing arms be in readiness to gather onany day and hour I may appoint. That is all at present. I shall takeup my abode in the ruins here, and any who have aught to tell me willfind me there every evening. In three days let me have news where eachof you has bestowed yourself. Arrange with your friends that a few ladsshall come here every evening to act as messengers should I have needof them."

  The little troop broke up at once, and Conrad rode with his sergeantup to the castle. Dismounting, they entered the courtyard. The tearscame into the young count's eyes as he looked round at the ruins. Thethought of how his father and the household had bidden him farewell,how his young sister had placed a scarf of her own embroidering overhis shoulders, and had wept freely as she did so, at the thought ofthe months that would elapse before she would see him again, for themoment unmanned him. However, with an effort he roused himself, andsaid: "They have not done so much harm as I had feared, Johann; thestonework has suffered but little, and it is carpenters' work ratherthan masons' that will be needed. Timber is cheap, and happily my purseis well lined with the ransom that Turkish emir I captured paid for hisliberty. Still, that matters nothing at present. So long as Goldsteinstands, Waldensturm will never be rebuilt. The first thing to do is tolook round and see where we had best bestow ourselves and our horses."

  There was no difficulty in this; the offices on the ground floor werestrongly arched, and although most of these chambers had been crushedin by the fall of the floors above, or by the battlements that had beentoppled down upon them, three or four remained intact. The horses wereled into one of them, and the young knight and Johann set to work toclear another of the debris and rubbish for their own habitation.

  "That is better than I had hoped," the former said, when the work wasdone. "Now, Johann, we must wait for our supper till the men I chargedto obtain food for ourselves and forage for the horses return. We areaccustomed to hard fare, and it matters not, so that we can obtainbread and enough of it. More than that we cannot expect, for such ofour vassals as have remained in the neighbourhood must be beggared, aswe have not seen a head of cattle or sheep since we crossed the borderof the estate, and the fields all stood uncultivated."

  Two of the men presently returned; one brought some black bread,another two fowls and a flask of wine.

  "I got the wine at old Richburg's, my lord," he said; "he had a smallstore that escaped the plunderers, and the fowls I got elsewhere.They had been out in the fields when the raiders came down, and CarlSchmidt, on his return, gathered a score or two, and these havemultiplied. He lets them run wild, so that should the raiders comeagain they may escape as before. He has built himself a shelter of sodswhere his house stood. He will bring you two fowls every day so longas he has any left. He says that to-morrow he will gather a dozen ofthem in, and maybe he will be able to add a few eggs to the fowls hebrings. He told me that many of the people have returned. Some havebuilt shelters in the woods, others, like himself, have establishedthemselves in rough huts on the spot where their old homes stood, andhave sown small patches of grain. All have been living in hopes ofyour return, and there is not a man or boy who will not take up arms assoon as you give the word."

  "I am glad to hear it. Take my thanks to
Schmidt and Richburg, and tellthem that I have not come home penniless, and that whether we succeedor not against this perjured baron they shall have help to rebuildtheir houses, and to enable them to live until they can raise crops."

  A fire was soon laid, for the yard was strewn with unburned beams whichhad fallen from the roofs and sheds. Johann plucked and split open thefowls, and grilled them over the fire.

  "We have done worse than this many a time when we were with theemperor," Conrad said as they ate their meal. When he had finished hesat for a long time in deep thought, then he remarked: "We must thinkover our plans. So far we have been able to form none. That the castlehad fallen I knew, but I was not aware how absolutely the vassals wereruined. To-morrow morning we will mount early and ride to a pointwhere we can have a view of Goldstein. I see now that we cannot hopeto gather a force that could attack the castle, and that if we are tosucceed it must be by some well-devised trick. If I had my sister outof their hands I could afford to wait, and could go round among myfather's friends, and endeavour to obtain aid from them; though I own Ihave no great hopes that many would adventure lives and fortunes in aquarrel that is not their own.

  "Von Goldstein is the most powerful baron in these parts, and standswell with the Elector of Treves. If I fail to right myself I shall goto Vienna and again lay my case before the emperor. I saw him before Ileft, and told him what had befallen me. He was greatly angered when heheard that Von Goldstein had broken his oath, and taken advantage ofmy absence to destroy my castle. Active aid he could not give me, buthe gave me rescript proclaiming the baron to be a false and perjuredknight, whose estates were forfeited by his treachery. He calledupon the elector to deprive him of his fief, and to bestow it uponme, declaring that in case of his failure to do so, he himself wouldintervene, and would, by force of arms if need be, expel Von Goldsteinand hand over the fief to me, to be held, not under the elector, butdirectly from himself.

  "It would be useless at present for me to produce this document, forthe elector knows well enough that the emperor's hands are full withthe wars against the Turks, who are a trouble at the best of times. Hisauthority is but slight over the western provinces, and the electorwould write making all sorts of excuses for not meddling with VonGoldstein. It were better, before I appeal to the elector, to raise atroop from my own resources; but even if I laid out every penny of theemir's ransom I could scarce gather a force that would suffice to stormthe castle. No, I feel that if I am to recover Minna it must be bystratagem. At present I can see no way by which this can be done, butmaybe as I look at the castle my brain may work to more good purpose.And now, Johann, it were well to lead the horses out and hobble them.There was a field we passed half-way down, where the grass was growinglong and thick. When the boys come to-morrow night, I will arrange withthem to cut and bring in bundles of it."

  "Shall I stay out there with them, count? Should any rough-riders catchsight of them standing unguarded they might well take a fancy to them,for yours at least is an animal such as is not often seen."

  "There is no need for that, Johann; it is dark already, and it is notlikely that anyone will pass here after nightfall. But it would be wellto fetch them in at daybreak."

  "That will I do, my lord; our arms and horses are our chief possessionsnow. Though we might replace mine, such a steed as yours would cost anoble's ransom."

  "Yes, and indeed, apart from his value, I would not lose him, since itwas a gift of the emperor himself."

  The next morning they rode out early, entered a wood on an eminence amile from the baron's castle, then, dismounting, walked to the edge ofthe trees, and the count sat down on a fallen tree and gazed at thecastle for half an hour in silence.

  It was indeed a strong place. The castle itself was perched upon theedge of a precipitous cliff, which on three sides of it fell awayalmost perpendicularly. On the other side, the approach, though steep,was more gradual. In front of the castle was a large courtyard. Insideand at the foot of the side walls, which rose apparently sheer fromthe edge of the precipices, were the quarters of the garrison. Theend wall was very strong and massive, with a flanking tower at eachcorner and another over the gateway. At its foot the rock had been cutaway perpendicularly, forming a dry moat some twenty feet deep andforty wide. On the other side of the moat was a similar enclosure opentowards the castle, but larger and with even more massive walls, withstrong flanking towers at short distances apart. Here the vassals woulddrive in their cattle and herds on the approach of a hostile force.This exterior fortification was in itself unusually strong, and wouldhave to be taken before the second wall could be attacked, as it couldonly be approached on that face.

  "It is a strong place, indeed," the count said at last. "It would benecessary to scale the outer wall, and, even could this be done bystealth, there would be that deep cut and the next wall to cross, andthe castle itself, which is indeed a fortress, to enter; a well-nighimpossible undertaking."

  "I do not think it would be necessary to scale the wall of the outercourt, my lord, for there is open ground on either side, as far as thepoint where the cut is made. Beyond that, methinks, there will be spaceenough to walk between the edge of the rock and the wall. The castleitself is most likely so built that the cliff goes sheer down from itsfoot, but I do not think that is so with the wall of the courtyard.There would be no occasion for it; the bravest men would not ventureupon a narrow ledge where they could be overwhelmed by stones ormissiles from the wall above."

  "I think that is so, Johann; but at any rate that cut would have to bepassed. No, the castle is impregnable save by stratagem, or treacherywithin, or against an army with battering-machines. 'Tis stronger thanI thought it; I never took so good a look at it before, for it was butseldom that I rode in this direction."

  "It would need an army," Johann agreed, "and might well cost the lossof a thousand men."

  "I should be well content, Johann," the young count said gloomily, "ifI could but carry my sister off, to ride back with her to Vienna, wherethe emperor would place her under the protection of some dame at hiscourt, and where I might carve out a new inheritance with my sword;but it seems to me as difficult to get her away as it is to storm thecastle. We know not where she is placed, and assuredly that knowledgeis the first that we must gain before any plan can be contrived. Thatcould only be done in one of two ways: either by bribing one of theservitors at the castle or by introducing some friend of our own."

  "The latter would not be easy, count," Johann said, shaking his head."If the baron were apprehensive of attack he might increase hisstrength, and one presenting himself as a man-at-arms out of employmentmight be enrolled in his band; but at present he is scarcely likely toincrease his force."

  "I see that, Johann; I would go myself as a minstrel, but among thosein the castle there might well be some who would recognize me. As youknow, I have some skill with the lute, and could pass well enough if itwere not for that; but were I detected and captured, 'tis certain thatI should never leave the castle alive."

  "That is not to be thought of, count. Your person is so well known tothe country round that you would certainly be recognized, if not by thebaron himself, by some of those who were with him at Treves when youwere there with your father, before you started for the war. Methinksthe other is the only plan. The baron's garrison consists not so muchof his own vassals as of wandering men-at-arms, whom he has gatheredround him, and who serve him for pay and not from duty or love. Amongthese there must be many who would willingly accept a bribe. If yourlordship think well of the plan, I will myself go down to the villageand endeavour to gather news. I am not likely to be known. I was asimple man-at-arms when you went out, and it was only when Rudolph andMax were killed that you made me officer over the rest. There has beenlittle communication for years between our people and those of thebaron. To make matters sure, I might put a patch over my eye. I shouldsay that I was a wandering soldier, who, being disabled in the war, wasnow returning unfit to my friends at Luxembourg. I shall pretend to b
every hard of hearing, in order that they may speak more freely beforeme. I can even stay there for a day or two, alleging that I am weariedand worn out. 'Tis certain that the baron is not loved by his people.He is a hard man and a rough one; he goes far beyond his rights in thedues he demands. I do not know that I may learn anything, but it ispossible that I may do so."

  "'Tis a good plan, Johann; I would carry it out myself, but I am fullyoung and too healthy-looking to pass as a discharged soldier."

  "'Tis well that you should run no risks, my lord; did aught happento you there is not only your own life that would be lost, but yourvassals would have no more to hope for. So far, from what the otherssaid last night, the baron does not concern himself with them atpresent; but were they to cultivate the land he would assuredly gatherthe produce, and with none to protect them or speak for them they wouldbe driven to go elsewhere. At any rate, my lord, I will gladly try.Naught may come of it, but maybe I may hear some discontented soldiergrowling over his cup, and may find an opportunity of sounding him,taking care, you may be sure, not to mention your name, but merelysaying that I know of a manner in which a handsome sum may be earnedby one willing to do a service. If I find he rises at the bait, I willbid him meet me again, and will, before I see him, discuss the matterwith you, so that you may be with me, and judge for yourself how far itwould be safe to go with him."

  "At any rate, Johann, no other plan presents itself at present, andthough I do not think it likely that much may come of it, it is atleast worth the trying."

  They rode back to Waldensturm, and an hour later Johann set out onfoot, leaving his breast-and back-pieces behind him, and taking onlyhis steel cap, which was dinted by many a blow, and his sword, forwithout a weapon of some kind no one in those days would think oftravelling.

  It was afternoon when he entered a wine-shop in the village half a milefrom Goldstein. He chose a quiet-looking house of the better class,which would be more likely to be frequented by people coming in fromthe country round, than by the men from the castle. With a black patchover one eye, and his well-worn garments, he looked his character well.The landlady glanced with some disfavour at him, for she did not carefor the custom of wayfarers.

  "I can pay my way," he said, "and am no beggar, but a broken-downsoldier, who has saved a little money in the wars;" and he laid a crownpiece on the table. "I have been fighting against the Turks, and, asyou see, lost an eye, and have almost lost my hearing; so I pray you tospeak loudly. I have journeyed far, and am wearied, and desire to resta day or two before I continue my journey to Luxembourg, my nativetown. I can promise you that I shall give you but little trouble."

  "We will talk of that later on," the landlady said. "I do not knowwhether I can take you in, but if I cannot I will tell you where youcan obtain a lodging in the village."

  Johann made her repeat this twice, each time in a louder voice; thenhe nodded. "Thank you, mistress, I know that worn-out soldiers are notwelcome customers at a house like yours, but I have ever been a quietman, given neither to quarrelling nor drinking beyond what is seemly. Ionly desire a quiet house and such food as there may be, and a flask ofthe best wine; for it is long since I drank a flagon of good Moselle.And as my money will last me well until I get to Luxembourg, I canafford it. With it I will take, if it pleases you, some cold meat, ifyou have it, or if not, some cheese and fruit."

  The landlady, seeing that the wayfarer was able to pay, and was likelyto give no trouble, presently placed before him the food he asked for.When he had finished it, he took his seat in the corner of the room,taking the jug of wine, of which he had drunk sparingly, with him. Thelandlady paid no further attention to him till the day's work was over,and some of the neighbours dropped in, together with three or fourpersons from other villages on the estate, who had been in Goldsteinon business, either to sell their vintage or crops or to arrange fortheir carriage by boat to Ems. In an hour or two these left, and onlythree or four of the traders of the village, who were accustomed to usethe house as a sort of meeting-place, remained. They chatted for sometime on different matters, casting occasionally somewhat suspiciousglances at Johann, who was leaning back in his chair as if asleep. Thelandlady, observing this, said to them: "You need not mind him; he isan old soldier on his way back to Luxembourg. He is a very civil-spokenman, but he is almost as deaf as a post. I had almost to scream intohis ear to make him understand me, and even if he were awake he wouldnot hear a single word you say. I suppose that you have heard thatBertha Grun and Lisa Hermann will be released from the castle in a fewdays, and that Gretchen Horwitz and another girl have got to take theirplaces. I hear that Bertha was told that she and Lisa and the other twowere to wait on Minna von Waldensturm during alternate weeks."

  "Yes, I heard it," the other said. "It passes all bearing that damselsshould be thus taken against their will and that of their parents. Savefor two or three old crones there have been no women in the castlesince the baron's wife died, till Minna von Waldensturm was takenthere after the sacking of their castle. They say that the baron isdetermined that she shall marry his son. I suppose he reckons uponyoung Waldensturm being killed in the wars, and then he can uniteWaldensturm with Goldstein without anyone making an objection."

  "I am sorry for her, for the youth is a lout, and they say as savageand as brutal as his father. We all know that the baron's ill-treatmentbrought his wife to her grave, and I should say that his son's wifewould not fare much better."

  "I am sorry for Conrad von Waldensturm," another said; "all spoke wellof him who knew him. He was a gallant youth and kindly, and was likelyto prove as good a master as his father was. It was a bad business,and I fear that there is little chance of his ever being righted;the elector is a great friend of the baron, whose castle, in case oftroubles, would act as a bulwark against any enemy advancing up theriver."

  The conversation then turned to local matters: the amount of thevintage and the probability that it would turn out unusually good inquality. A quarter of an hour later Johann went up to the room thatthe landlady had told him he could occupy. The next morning, after ahearty breakfast, he told her that he felt so much better after a goodnight's rest that he would continue his journey, and after paying hisreckoning he left the inn and returned to Waldensturm.

  "You must have news for me, Johann," the count said as he came in; "Ihad not expected you for two or three days."

  "I have news, and I think of importance;" and he related theconversation that he had overheard. "It struck me at once that thiswas the very thing that we wanted. One of the young women, who havebeen carried off against their will, to act as chamber-maidens to theCountess Minna, might be induced to befriend her, who is even morehardly dealt with than they are, and who is beloved by all who knowher. Her escape, too, would release them from further attendance at thecastle."

  "You are right, Johann; 'tis a stroke of good fortune indeed that youhave learned this, and it is of the more importance since it is evidentthat no time must be lost. For if the baron has once set his mind uponmarrying Minna to his son, he may at any moment force her to do so.However great her repugnance to the match, it would weigh as nothingagainst his determination. I will myself take this matter in hand,and although I might be known were I to appear in my own dress, it isnot likely anyone would recognize a well-to-do young farmer, or, whatmight be still better, a trader travelling with his wares, as Conradvon Waldensturm, whom all suppose to be far away, fighting against theTurks. The fathers of the girls are evidently substantial men, sincetheir names were familiar to all those you heard talking. There wouldbe no difficulty in finding them, and their places are probably notvery far from Goldstein, as the baron would hardly send to distantfarms or villages for the young women he required. I wish that I knewsomething of the men's disposition, for there are some who would put upwith the outrage of their daughters being carried away against theirwill, meekly and quietly, while others would be stirred to the greatestanger."

  "That is so, my lord, but as I believe that the baron is gene
rallyhated by his vassals, I think that there are few who would not be gladto do him an ill turn. Then you are thinking of speaking to them, andnot to the girls themselves?"

  "It would depend upon the fathers. A timid man, however much he mighthate the count, would shrink from allowing his daughter to run theslightest risk, while a bold man would heartily enter into the scheme.It is easier to speak to a man than to get speech with a maiden. If,when I see them, it appears to me that they would not be likely toconsent to their daughters taking any part in a plot, I would thenwait, however long, for an opportunity of addressing one of the girls.You cannot go again, Johann, but we might send Henrick, who is a sharpfellow, to Goldstein. He might be dressed as a hind, giving out that hewas seeking employment on a farm. He might say that he had been toldthat either of these two men was likely to give him employment, andmight reasonably ask questions as to their characters before going toeither."

  "That would be a good plan, count. Henrick is lodging in a cottage downby the river, which escaped the notice of the baron's men. I can fetchhim up in a quarter of an hour, and if he started at once he would bethere this afternoon."

  "Fetch him, by all means, Johann."

  The sergeant had already told the soldier the nature of the work thathe was required to undertake, and on his arrival he at once expressedto Conrad his willingness to carry it out.

  "In the first place, you will go to Goldstein and find out where themen live, then you will go to the hamlet nearest to them, and you willhave no difficulty whatever in learning the reputation in which theystand with their neighbours, and the characters they bear. They maylive some distance apart, but it is important that you should find outabout both. It is probable that they are well-to-do men, for the baronwould not have taken the daughters of mere boors as attendants on hiscaptive, but would have chosen maidens of good repute and manners."

  It was not until late the next afternoon that Henrick returned.

  "The men lived in different directions, count," he said, "and wereeach four miles from Goldstein, so that I could only hear about oneyesterday evening, and had to walk to the village near where the otherlived, which was six miles away, the next morning. Both are men withconsiderable holdings, and the fact that the baron has carried offtheir daughters has excited great indignation among their neighbours,though, of course, no one dares express his sentiments openly, leastof all the two men themselves. Horwitz is said to be a man of sullendisposition, a hard man to those who work under him, very close andparsimonious in his dealings. Grun is much more popular among hisneighbours; he is a kindly man and not easily stirred to anger. He ispassionately attached to his daughter, who is his only child, and sinceshe has had to go to the castle has not, it is said, left his houseeven to attend to the vintage."

  "Then I will try Grun first," the count said. "A man of the natureyou describe will not be likely to betray me even should he refuse toallow his daughter to assist me in any way. You have done very well,Henrick. To-morrow morning you will ride to Weisenheim and buy for mea suit of clothes such as the small traders who journey through thecountry selling goods would wear. Then go to various shops and buysuch articles as they might carry--materials for dresses, ribbons,kerchiefs, and cheap silver ornaments,--make them up into a pack, andbring them hither. Do not buy all at one shop, even if they should havein store all that you require; your doing so would excite curiosity.Get materials for at least a dozen dresses--not common goods, but suchas are worn on f?te days. Here is money which will be amply sufficientfor your purchases. You, Johann, will go to-morrow morning to a villagebeyond the estate and buy a small horse, with a saddle such as would beused for packing goods on; then I shall be ready for a start the nextmorning."

  Both commissions were executed, and the young count started, leadingthe pony, whose burden was by no means a heavy one. He had learned theprices that Henrick had paid for each article, and fastened a ticketto each, as it was possible that he might be invited in by some of thecountry-people, and might ask either too much or too little for hiswares, and so create suspicion that he was not what he seemed. He wasindeed asked to show his goods several times, and as he charged ratherunder the price that he had given for them in the town, he effectedseveral sales. About noon he arrived at the house of the farmer Grun.One of the maids, who saw him coming up, ran out.

  "'Tis no use your stopping here," she said. "In bygone times it wouldhave been different, but the master and mistress are both in deepgrief."

  "So I have heard," Conrad said, "and yet I would fain be allowedentrance, having need of speech with your master on a matter ofimportance. I pray you to tell him so."

  She returned in a minute. "The master says that your visit is untimely,but that if the matter is of importance he will see you."

  Tying up his pony to a hook in the wall, Conrad followed the maid intothe house. A big powerful-looking man was sitting on a chair before theempty grate; he looked up listlessly at Conrad's entrance.

  "I hope," he said, "young man, that you have not disturbed me in mytrouble needlessly, or entered here under a false pretext?"

  "Assuredly I do not enter needlessly, though I own that it is under afalse pretext. And yet it is not so though; the matter I would speak ofto you is of importance. I have heard, Herr Grun, that you are a kindlyman, just in your dealings, and one to be trusted. I am going to trustyou."

  The farmer listened with increasing surprise as he spoke; his mannerof speech was not one that a travelling pedlar of goods would haveadopted, but was rather that of a man of rank.

  "I am Conrad von Waldensturm," the young count went on. The farmer gavean exclamation of surprise, and rose to his feet. "I have just hurriedback from the war, at the news that my castle had been destroyed, myestate ravaged, and my sister carried off. I have come home to rescueher. I heard of the outrage of which you and your daughter have beenthe victims, and, having made enquiries, I judge that you would not beone to sit down tamely under it."

  "Tamely, no," the man said passionately, "and there is the pain of it!What can I, a tiller of the soil, do against my feudal lord? Show methe way to avenge myself, Count von Waldensturm, and be assured thatyou will not find me backward. There is not a man in the barony whowould not see the castle razed to the ground with joy. What can we do?He has two hundred armed men within its walls, and could crush us as ahammer would crush an egg. We have suffered unnumbered wrongs at hishands and at those of his son, who is even worse than himself; but howwith clubs and staves could we attack a castle that is the strongestin the electorate, and has never yet been taken. However, count, youhave doubtless some plan in your mind that you have thus come to me.All knew and honoured your father, and envied those who held landunder him, and it was reported that you, his son, would tread in hisfootsteps, and were already beloved by all his vassals."

  "My first object," Conrad said, "is, as you may suppose, to rescue mysister from his hands. With that intention I returned home, and youmay well believe that the news that the baron intends to wed her tohis son has added to that desire, and has shown me the need for hastein carrying it out. The first thing is to ascertain exactly in whatpart of the castle she is confined, how she is guarded, and the mannerin which her chamber could be approached. Having ascertained this,I must, of course, open communications with her so that she may becognizant of my plans, and be ready to assist in their being carriedout. But this is not all; the baron, and no doubt his son, with a partyof men-at-arms, will set off in pursuit, and I shall have an ambushprepared. I have but some twenty men with me, all good soldiers, whohave fought in the wars, and I hope to gather fifty more from ourformer vassals; this should be enough to ensure that none of the partywho sally out shall return alive to the castle. Had I as many moredetermined men I might carry the castle by surprise, for I could, withmy own troop, ride forward, and being taken for the baron, would findthe gate open and the drawbridge down. Entering, I could hold the gatewith my men until the rest, who would have followed close behind,rushed in, when we might well over
come the garrison, taken by surpriseas they would be."

  "'Tis a good plan!" the farmer said, striding up and down the room,"and methinks that not only can I promise you the aid of my daughter,but can bring some score of stout fellows to aid you. The hiredruffians of the baron are hated as much as he is; they enter everyhouse they choose and demand victuals and wine, insult the womenwith their foul oaths and coarse manners, lay hands on anything theyfancy, and treat us as if we were a conquered people and they were ourmasters. 'Tis worse than useless to complain of them to the baron. Aneighbour of mine did so, and he was hung over the gate as a lesson tothe rest of us. Some of us have talked the matter over again and again,as to whether it would not be possible to attack the baron when he rodeout with a party of his men; but if we did so, and were successful,the neighbouring lords would all unite against us as rebels againstour master, and the whole country would be harried, and those who werecaught hung like dogs. But under your leading it would be a differentmatter; it would be a feud between two nobles. What would you do withthe castle, sir?"

  "I should hold it as my own," Conrad said. "Goldstein has destroyedWaldensturm. Waldensturm in turn captures Goldstein. I should appeal tothe emperor, if the elector takes part against me, and shall offer tohold the fiefs of Goldstein and Waldensturm as the emperor's vassal.I know that he would grant it to me, and that, were the elector tobesiege the castle he would lay his orders on some of the neighbouringprinces, either Hesse or Luxembourg, to give me aid."

  "Then in that case, count, you may reckon upon the aid of fully ahundred men. There is not only the hate against the baron and hisfollowers, but the prospect of becoming your vassals instead of thoseof the baron; which would mean prosperity and happiness instead ofbeing ground down by his unjust demands, and exposed to constantinsults and injury from him and his. And now, my lord, I will call mydaughter in, tell her your designs, and bid her not only to answer yourquestions, but to aid you by every means in her power."

  Bertha was sent for; she was a pretty, modest-looking girl, but herface told of recent suffering.

  "Bertha," her father said, "this is the Count von Waldensturm. He hasreturned home from the wars to rescue his sister, and I charge you toanswer all his questions, and to aid him in every way to the best ofyour powers."

  "That will I readily, for the young countess has been very kind tome, and we pity her deeply. She saved us from insult on the part ofthe baron's son, and she appealed to the baron himself to allow us toremain always with her, and not even to descend to the kitchens tofetch her food; and the baron, who evidently wishes to humour her insmall matters, gave the order."

  "That is just what I should have thought of Minna," Conrad said in atone of deep pleasure. "Now, fr?ulein, in what part of the castle is mysister confined?"

  "In a room in the north angle. It is some fifty feet from the courtyardinto which it looks."

  "Is the window barred?"

  "No," the girl said; "the lower windows are strongly guarded, but onthis floor they are not so."

  "Then I take it, that, if she had a rope, you and the other maidencould easily lower her to the ground?"

  "We could do that easily enough, count; but were she there she wouldbe no nearer escaping. There is always a guard at the gate, and thedrawbridge is up at night; and even when across that there is the outercourt to be passed."

  "Are there stairs to the wall near where she would alight?"

  "Yes, sir, there is a flight of stairs in the angle just below ourwindow."

  "The next thing I have to think about is your safety. As you sleep inher room it would be clear that she could not have escaped without yourknowledge and assistance, and the baron, in his fury, would be capableof slaying you both."

  "And he would certainly do so," the farmer said shortly.

  "Then it is clear that either they must escape with my sister or musthide somewhere."

  "But we must be found sooner or later," the girl said.

  "Not if my plan succeeds, Bertha. I intend that the escape shall beknown as soon as it is completed, that the baron shall set out inpursuit, that we shall have an ambush prepared for him, and that heshall not return to the castle, which I, with my retainers and vassals,and your father's assistance, will then capture.

  "In that case it would be easy enough for us to hide," the girl said."There are chambers in the castle that none ever enter, and we couldwithout difficulty conceal ourselves there. We could either do that orescape with the young countess."

  "I will think it over," Conrad said. "Are there sentries on the walls?"

  "There are two on the tower over the gate, but none along the wallitself. At least, the two are there in the daytime, but I have neverlooked out at night."

  "It was only yesterday morning that you were released, so we have fivedays to think over our plans. By the way, would it be possible for youto descend from your room to the courtyard at night without passingthrough occupied rooms or otherwise attracting attention? because, ifso, there would be no necessity for lowering my sister from the window."

  "I think so, sir. There is a staircase by which there is communicationboth with the floor above and that below. It is a small stone windingstair in the thickness of the wall. I have never been up or down it; itconnects with our room by a short passage in which there is a door, butthis is always kept closed, and at night we lock it. The young countessobtained the key from the baron, saying that, did she not have it,anyone ascending or descending could come into her room without let orhindrance."

  "There can be little doubt that the stairs descend to the courtyard,and that they are used by men going up and down to sentry duty on theupper platform; the only question is whether the door at the foot,opening into the courtyard, is kept locked."

  "That I cannot say, sir; we never went down to the courtyard when wewere at the castle."

  "Is there a sentry posted on the top of the tower?"

  "Yes, sir, I believe so; at any rate, we often hear the tread of mengoing up and down, and that by night as well as by day."

  "In that case it is possible that the door is not kept locked; as it isso often used it would give unnecessary trouble if the key had to befetched each time the sentry was changed. It is very important that weshould know for certain, because it would save much risk and troubleif you could leave the keep without descending from the window. But Ido not see how you could let us know, and I do not like putting theadventure off until you are again on duty, for there is no saying whenthe baron may carry out his intention of forcing my sister to becomehis son's wife."

  "I could manage that, count," the farmer said. "I might well enough goto the castle with a present of fruit, or with some woman's gear thatBertha might have left behind her. I might not be able to see the girl,but she might send down a message. If the door is locked, she need sendonly her thanks; if it is open, she could say that I need not troubleto send her fruit, as they had an abundance of everything they wanted."

  "That would be a very good plan," the young count said. "I will returnhere in three days, by which time I hope to have all my plans laid out."

  On his return to Waldensturm, Conrad ordered two or three of his men tomake a light ladder some twenty-five feet long, and sent Henrick overto Weisenheim to buy a hundred yards of light but very strong cord. Thenext night he rode with Johann to within a short distance of Goldstein,the latter carrying the ladder. It was a dark night, and, leaving theirhorses half a mile from the castle, they made their way towards it,reached the foot of the outer wall, taking great care to avoid makinga noise, proceeded along the edge of the wall of the outer court untilthey came to the cut in the rock. Then the ladder was lowered down,they both descended, and, shifting the ladder to the other side, weresoon at the foot of the wall of the inner court. They found, to theirsatisfaction, that there were some two feet of level ground betweenthis and the edge of the precipice. As they went on, this sometimeswidened to twenty feet or more, sometimes narrowed to three feet, asthe wall kept straight along without
following the irregularities ofthe rock. At length the masonry rose up in front of them extending tothe very edge of the crag, and they knew that they had reached thecastle itself, and that some sixty feet above them was the chamber inwhich Minna was confined.

  "So far everything is well, Johann, and if only the door at the bottomof that flight of steps is unbolted it seems to me that we shall haveno difficulty. Everything has succeeded beyond our expectation. Butthree days ago the rescue of my sister seemed almost impossible, butnow, thanks to Bertha Grun and her father, everything is in train."

  Returning as they came, they carried the ladder to the wood where theyhad left their horses, and hiding it there rode home.

  The boys had not been idle; every day they had gone out, sometimes toplaces many miles away, to warn the vassals that their young lord hadreturned, and that they must hold themselves in readiness to assembleat Waldensturm, with the best arms they could obtain, immediately uponreceiving a summons. The tenants were all delighted when they heardthe message. The boys had carried with them money, to give to thosewho were in want, to purchase long pikes and swords in readiness forwhatever service their lord might require of them.

  The day after his expedition to Goldstein, Conrad resumed his trader'sdress, and, taking his pack pony as before, went to Grun's.

  "The matter will be easier than I expected," he said to the farmer,who gave him a hearty greeting. "I have found that once at the footof the castle there is no difficulty in making one's way along. Ifyour daughter finds that the door at the bottom of the staircase isunlocked, there are no difficulties whatever;" and he then describedhow they made their way along to the foot of the walls of the castleitself.

  "As it can be but a few paces from the bottom of that staircase tothe one in the angle, they could, if in dark clothes, mount the wallunperceived, even were there guards in the courtyard itself, which ismost unlikely, as the baron has no fear whatever of attack, and it isonly upon the outer wall that any shrewd watch would be kept. I thinkthat, to avoid all danger, it would be better that your daughter andher companion should also fly. When once beyond the walls I would havea guide in readiness to take them to one of the cottages still standingon my estate. In my pack is a long rope, well knotted; it is not bulky,and your daughter could wind it round her under her garments. When theyget on to the wall they will fasten one end securely, and drop theother down. I shall be there, and shall at once climb to the top andlower my sister and the girls down, one by one. My sergeant will bethere to receive them. Then I shall descend by the rope, and we willmake off. I have received promises from forty men to join me, and havefixed on a spot where they shall be placed in ambush a mile from thecastle. Have you done anything?"

  "Yes, I have sounded many of my neighbours, and one and all will gladlyjoin in any attempt to overthrow the baron and his son. Each of themwill communicate with others. I have not mentioned your name, or giventhem any particulars, but have simply said that there is a plot on footwhich is in my opinion certain to be successful, and that in a mannerthat will prevent any of the neighbouring lords taking up the baron'scause. And that I have reason to believe that a new lord, who will be ajust and good master, will be forthcoming. I think I can promise thatby the middle of next week there will be a hundred and fifty men readyfor the work."

  "That should be ample, Grun; and if we are successful I promise thatyour farm shall be for ever exempt from all feudal obligations, rents,and quittances. I shall not come over again until your daughter hasreturned to the castle, and you have learned from her whether that dooris open. If it is not so, she must examine the bolt carefully. It isprobable that it could be shot from the inside if she had a suitabletool, in which case we must defer it until she again returns to thecastle, unless she and her companion find that they can get the boltback without difficulty. Ask her to ascertain this the first day shereturns. I have thought that possibly you might not be able to see her,and that the message that she sends down to you might not be rightlyreported. Therefore, instead of your paying her a visit, tell herthat, on the morning after she returns to the castle, she is to go tothe window between eight and nine o'clock, and to shake a cloth or agarment out of it if the door is unlocked, or she finds that she canopen it. We shall be watching for the signal. If it is not made, theattempt shall be deferred; if it is made, it will be at midnight onthe third night after she returns. At that hour they are to descendthe stairs to the courtyard, mount the steps to the wall, and drop therope over, having previously firmly fastened the end. I had bettersee her myself, and give her the instructions, so that there may beno possibility of a mistake. If the signal is made, a boy will bringa message to you that the affair will come off on the night I havearranged, and you with your friends will then be by ten o'clock at thepoint where the road runs through a wood about a mile away from thecastle. Two or three of you bring axes, so that we can fell some treesacross the road behind them and so enclose them. It is of the utmostimportance that not one shall escape to carry the news to the castle."

  Bertha was called in, and the instructions were repeated to her untilConrad was perfectly satisfied that she knew what she had to do. Shewas at once to inform Minna that her brother had returned, and wasprepared to rescue her. "Tell her this directly you get back, Bertha,and then, if the baron should determine to hurry on her marriage, shecan beg for a week's further grace before it takes place."

  Everything being now arranged, Conrad returned home, and waitedimpatiently for the hour when the signal would be made. On that morninghe and three of the men, all dressed as peasants, took up theirpositions at various points a quarter of a mile or so from the castle,hiding behind the bushes so that they should not be perceived from thecastle. Soon after eight o'clock the watchers saw a figure come to thewindow, and shake a garment as if to free it from dust. Then one byone they got up and strolled carelessly away, mounted their horses inthe wood, and rode back to Waldensturm. The men and a number of boyswere assembled at the ruins, and all were at once sent off to order thevassals to assemble there by eight o'clock on the evening of the nextday. At the appointed time all were there, full of delight to see theiryoung lord again, and protesting their readiness to die in his service.

  They now learned for the first time the nature of the enterprise inwhich they were about to take part, and their delight at the prospectof slaying the author of their misfortunes, and of capturing hiscastle, was unbounded. Many of them had provided themselves with bowsor cross-bows, the boys having carried messages to that effect a fewdays before. One or two of the men still on the estate carried axesand coils of rope. Conrad and his men-at-arms were mounted at eighto'clock, by which hour the last of those summoned had come in. Thesefollowed on foot, and by half-past nine reached the wood selected forthe ambush. The men with axes at once set to work to fell three or fourtrees across the road where it entered the wood on the side farthestaway from Goldstein, the rest were distributed along it among the treeson both sides. Half an hour after their arrival, Grun, at the headof a hundred and fifty men, came up. Most of these had pikes, otherswere armed with scythes, while a few of the poorer class carried onlyflails; but all had long knives.

  After saying a few words of thanks to them, Conrad distributed themalso by the sides of the road. Ropes were then fastened from tree totree across it, at a height of two feet from the ground, others beinglaid across the road where the baron with his retainers would enter.These were to be tightened as soon as he had passed, so as to tripover any of the rearmost horsemen who tried to escape. Some trees werecut almost through at this point, and men with axes stationed there soas to bring them down as soon as the horsemen had passed. Having seenthat everything was in readiness, Conrad left Johann in command, andwith three of his followers rode on to the edge of the wood nearestthe castle. Here two of the men remained with the horses, which, whenthey heard Conrad's horn sound, they were to bring up towards thecastle, and to stop just beyond bowshot. Henrick, carrying the ladder,accompanied him. As before, they had no difficulty in ga
ining thefoot of the castle wall. After waiting a quarter of an hour there wasa slight sound and the end of the rope fell near them. Conrad gave aslight pull to show that he was there, waited till he was sure thatthe other end was securely fastened, and then began to climb it. Hehad left his riding-boots in the cut, so that he might climb withoutany noise being made by their scraping against the wall. Being strongand active he had no difficulty in reaching the top, and as soon as hegained his footing there a figure threw herself into his arms.

  "Thank God I have you, little sister! let me put this round yourwaist." "This" was a broad band made of a saddle-girth, which wasfastened to the end of the rope which he had brought up with him.

  "You will be quite safe," he said. "Hold the rope with both hands; ithas plenty of strength and would hold twenty of you."

  A moment later she was over the wall, and he lowered her steadily downuntil he felt the rope slacken. Then he drew it up again and loweredBertha and her companion, and then joined them on the ledge.

  "Now," he said, "you must go on together with Henrick. Walk one behindthe other and keep touch of the wall. As you go, you will have todescend a ladder on one side of a deep cut, and climb it on the other.When you get to the top you are to stop till I join you, as Henrickwill have to move the ladder for me to follow you. Go on at once; youwill know afterwards why I have stayed behind."

  He waited till Henrick rejoined him with the news that the others hadpassed the cut, then he shouted: "Hullo there, watch!"

  "Who is that?" a voice called down from the top of the tower.

  THE ESCAPE FROM THE CASTLE]

  "Tell the baron that I, Conrad von Waldensturm, have carried off mysister, and give him my defiance;" and then with Henrick he hurriedalong and soon rejoined the women. Already there was a tumult in thecastle; the sentry had blown his horn, and then run down from the walland entered the castle to arouse the baron. Conrad sounded the notethat his followers knew, and they then hurried along until they arrivedat the spot where the men were standing with the horses.

  "Now," he said to Minna, "you must mount behind me, two of my men willtake your maids."

  The din in the castle was now prodigious; a horn continued sounding andthe alarm-bell of the castle ringing, orders were being shouted, andit was evident that the garrison were fully roused, and that in a fewminutes the pursuit would begin. Conrad and two of the men sprang intotheir saddles. Henrick lifted Minna to her place behind Conrad, and thetwo girls behind the men.

  "Hold tight, girls, we have not far to go," Conrad said. Henrickmounted, and all started at a gallop. Conrad was glad to hear thewatchman on the tower over the gate shout at the top of his voice: "Ihear the tramp of horses; they have just started."

  There was no need for haste; it would be another five minutes at leastbefore the baron could start. Still, as Conrad wished to see thateverything was ready, he maintained his pace until he reached the woodwhere his party were assembled. Then they dismounted. The men led thehorses to the spot where the others were tied up, near the farther edgeof the wood. Conrad led his sister and the maids to a distance from theroad; he had already told her what was going to take place.

  "Wait here till I come to fetch you," he said; "I must see that allis in readiness." He joined the men, who were gathered thickly bythe road, and took his place by the ropes which would bring the headof the column to a halt. Here his own vassals were chiefly gathered,while his men-at-arms were stationed, under Johann, at the point wheretheir pursuers would enter the wood. This he considered to be the mostimportant post, as many of the troopers would certainly try to escapewhen they found that they were caught in an ambush. Two minutes afterhis arrival he heard the sound of a party of galloping horsemen.

  "I think," he said to Grun, who was standing next to him, "there arefrom thirty to forty of them. The baron would probably ride off as soonas a score or two of his men had mounted." In a minute the troop camealong at a furious gallop, led by Von Goldstein and his son. Suddenlythe head of the column seemed to collapse; men and horses rolled over;those behind, unable to check their horses, crashed into a confusedheap on the ground, and before they could check themselves well-nighhalf the party were heaped upon each other. As the baron and his sonfell, Conrad's bugle rang out, and a flight of arrows and of cross-bowbolts poured into the rearmost files of the troop, and at the samemoment a crowd of men sprang out from the trees and assailed them withpike and sword, scythe and flail. Taken utterly by surprise, appalledby the suddenness of the attack, and by the catastrophe in which theirleaders and half their comrades were involved, the remainder of thetroop offered but a feeble resistance. Johann, with his men, camerushing up from the rear, for not one of the troopers had time to turnhis horse before being surrounded by his foes. Conrad took no part inthe fight, but, on seeing how complete was the success of the ambush,sheathed his sword, and returned to the spot where he had left Minna,leaving it to the infuriated peasants and troopers to complete the work.

  "The first blow has been struck, Minna. Von Goldstein and his son havepaid with their lives for their crimes and for the ruin that they havebrought upon us. I shall send you off to the castle under the guard offour of the vassals, and you will remain there until you hear from me."

  "But why should you not come yourself?"

  "Because I have only begun my work. I hope before morning to finishit. I am going to take Goldstein by surprise, and I have little doubtthat I shall succeed. I have nearly two hundred men, and as some thirtyof the garrison have fallen, we shall outnumber them considerably."

  The four men had already been told off to escort the young countessand her maids, and horses having been brought up, the party at oncestarted, and Conrad returned to the scene of conflict, where all wasnow quiet. Not a man of the baron's party had escaped; he himself andhis son had been found dead when the horses had either recovered theirfeet or been dragged off. Whether they had broken their necks or beensmothered by the mass piled over them none cared to enquire, but manya vengeful stab showed that the peasants were determined to make sureof their deaths. Some torches had been brought for the purpose, andthese having been lit, the peasants had carefully examined the fallentroopers to make sure that the work of vengeance was complete.

  Conrad, on his arrival, called them all together. "So far the workhas been well begun," he said; "your tyrant is dead. Now for the nextblow. Herr Grun tells me that he has, as I requested him, chosen fiftyof the most active for special work. Let these form in a body." Whenthe young men had obeyed his order he continued: "Now, Johann, youand Henrick and the four men I have already told off will go with thisparty, Johann in command, and do the work with which I charged you.You will proceed along the foot of the castle wall till you get to thespot where I descended. There you will remain quiet until you hear theattack at the gate; then you will climb the rope, and, as soon as youare all assembled on the wall, will rush down and seize the inner gate,cut down all who are guarding it, and then, leaving Henrick and ten ofthe men there, will run into the outer court and take the baron's menin rear. Henrick, as soon as the others have gone, will close the gatebehind them. There is little fear that you will be disturbed, for allthe defenders of the castle will rush down when they hear the fightingin the outer court."

  "I understand, my lord," Johann said; "never fear but that we will doour part in the business."

  "Remember," Conrad went on, "everything depends on your carrying thisout silently. Do not go in a solid body; steal along as quietly aspossible. There is little fear of their seeing you, but beware ofstriking a foot or weapon against a stone."

  As soon as Johann and his party had moved off, he continued: "Now,strip the armour and steel caps from the dead troopers. How many arethere of them?"

  "Thirty-four, count," Grun said, "and there are twenty-five of theirhorses uninjured, and the five of Johann and his party."

  "Then choose thirty-nine men," Conrad said, "and let them divide thearmour among them, and let each take a horse and mount at once. Weshall, with
my fifteen, be a stronger party than rode out, but in thedarkness they will not notice that. All the rest will follow us onfoot, keeping a hundred yards in rear. When we enter the courtyard,ride, in the first place, and cut down any of the troopers who may bethere; it is probable that the greater part of them will be gatheredon the wall to await the baron's return. When you have cleared thecourtyard you will, at the sound of my bugle, dismount. By that time weshall be joined by those on foot, and we shall then see what steps wehad best take against the men on the walls."

  In a quarter of an hour all was ready, and at the head of over fiftymounted men Conrad rode off at a foot-pace, the unmounted men followingclose behind. When within a quarter of a mile of the castle, Conradgave the order, and at a canter they rode towards the gate. As theyapproached, the men broke into a cheer, and the garrison, taking thisas a proof that success had attended them, and that the fugitiveshad been captured, answered with shouts of welcome. As Conrad hadexpected, the drawbridge was down and the gate open. As he rode in withhis men Conrad raised a shout: "A Waldensturm! a Waldensturm! kill!kill!" and instantly attacked the men who were gathered inside thegate to welcome the baron's return. Taken wholly by surprise, theirresistance was feeble, and the thirty or forty men in the courtyardwere speedily despatched; but by this time those on the walls werepouring down to the assistance of their comrades. Conrad blew his horn;his followers dismounted and rushed for the new-comers, and just asthey did so the unmounted men ran in through the gate with loud shouts.A panic seized the baron's retainers, and these again ran up the stepsto the top of the wall. Many of the assailants would have followedthem, but Conrad called them off. He knew that the stairs could notbe carried without great loss, as a dozen men at the top of each ofthe flights of steps could hold them against hundreds. The fight hadnot been conducted in darkness, for there were many torches burning inthe courtyard. "We will wait till morning," he said; "they are likerats in a trap." At this moment a sudden uproar was heard in the innercourtyard, and shouts of "Waldensturm! Waldensturm!" and a couple ofminutes later Johann and his party rushed in through the upper gate,where they stopped, astonished at the quietness that prevailed.

  "They are all on the wall, Johann; there is nothing more to do atpresent," Conrad said. "I will go back with you, and we will takepossession of the castle itself. There is not likely to be anyresistance; few men will have remained there, and these, when they seethat both courtyards are in our hands, will hardly resist. If theysurrender, we will kill no one, and no damage must be done to anything;the castle is mine now. Herr Grun, will you remain in command here; Ido not think the men on the wall will make an attack, but keep a closewatch on them."

  The castle gate was closed when they reached it, and five or six menwith cross-bows were at the windows commanding it.

  "What ho there!" Conrad said. "It is useless for you to resist. I,Conrad von Waldensturm, call upon you to surrender. The baron and hisson are killed, and half the garrison; the rest are in our power. Ifyou surrender peacefully your lives shall be spared; if not, every manwill be put to the sword."

  There was a short pause, and then a voice said: "We surrender,relying upon your knightly word." A minute later the sound of barsbeing withdrawn was heard, and the door opened. Conrad, with his ownfollowers, entered, letting the others remain without. The men werefirst disarmed and placed in the guard chamber at the gate, and asentry posted outside. Then, taking torches from the walls, Conrad madea hasty survey of the interior, telling the frightened scullions andother servants that no harm would come to them.

  "'Tis indeed a stately castle," he said to Johann, "and I have made agood exchange. Now, do you remain here in charge; I will go down andsee how matters are proceeding. Day is breaking already." Then withthose who had remained outside the castle gate he joined the main bodyin the outer courtyard.

  "Now, Grun," he said to the farmer, "we will summon the men on thewalls to surrender. They must see that their case is desperate. Thereare but sixty or seventy of them, and they are hopelessly outnumbered.If they refuse, I shall not attack them; hunger and thirst will soontame them. We have not lost a life, and I would not that any of yourgood fellows or mine should be killed, and were we to storm the wallswe should assuredly lose many. I should be sorry indeed were any wivesleft widows, or children fatherless, by this night's work."

  Accordingly, as soon as it became light, Conrad summoned the men onthe walls to surrender on promise of their lives being spared. Theanswer was a yell of defiance. When this subsided he said: "Well, if itpleases you to starve like rats in a trap you can do so; there is nohope of your escape or of aid arriving. The baron, his son, and all theparty who rode with him are dead, the castle is in my possession, andyou are as much prisoners as if you were in a dungeon." He now orderedhis own men and a dozen of his vassals to leave the courtyard and forma line across the narrow neck by which the castle was approached,and to see that no one passed; for he deemed it possible that a manmight be lowered from the wall to entreat aid from some of the baron'sneighbours. Food was brought out from the castle and distributed. Themen were divided into four parties, each of which was to take up itsstation near the foot of the four flights of steps up to the wall. Twomounted men were sent off to Waldensturm to fetch the young countessback, and the courtyards were cleared of the bodies that had fallen.Three hours later Minna arrived. On the way she had heard the detailsof the capture of the castle, and was delighted to hear that it hadbeen taken without the loss of a single man.

  "I am proud of you, indeed," Minna said. "I always was so, but aftercapturing in this way a castle that the baron considered impregnable, Ishall always regard you as a hero indeed."

  "The credit is chiefly due to Grun and his daughter," Conrad said."Without them we could have done nothing; with their aid the matter wassimple enough."

  The brother and sister sat for a long time talking together in thegreat hall of the castle. They had much to tell each other of what hadhappened since they had parted two years before.

  "And you are really to be lord of this castle?" she said. "But can youkeep it, Conrad? the elector may bring an army against it."

  "I think I can hold it if he does; but I do not think that he will. Ihave an order from the emperor to the elector to declare the baron'sestates forfeited, and to install me in his place, and it containsa threat that he would himself send a force to carry this out if hefailed to do so, and that I should hold it direct from him. Had I notcaptured the castle, the parchment would have been of little good; theelector would know that the threat was a vain one, since the emperorhas no force that he could send on such a long expedition, needingevery man in his struggle with the Turks. Moreover, the electorregarded the baron as a great friend of his, and even did he feelconstrained by the command of the emperor to aid me, he would know thathe would need all the force that he could raise to capture the castle.But now that it has been done, and I am its master, the matter haschanged altogether, and he would rather have me as his friend than hisenemy, especially as most of the vassals that he could call upon to aidin recapturing the castle must have viewed with displeasure the baron'sattack on my hold in my absence, after having taken the oath of peace.No, I have no fear whatever of that. A large portion of the vassals ofthe estate have aided me, and all would take refuge here if a forcemarched against me, and would fight till the last, knowing that nomercy would be shown to them. No, Minna, I think that we need have nofear for the future."

  At four o'clock in the afternoon Conrad was summoned to the courtyard,as the men on the wall had shouted that they were ready to surrender.

  "I thought that they would soon be tired of being cooped up therewithout food or drink," Conrad said as he went out; "I have beenexpecting it for the last two or three hours."

  Thirst rather than hunger had done its work, and the certainty thatsooner or later they must give in had broken their spirit. As the countappeared in the courtyard, there was a general shout of: "We surrender,on the promise of our lives."

  "I pro
mise you that. Now let every man take off his armour, and lay itand his arms on the wall, and then come down four at a time. You shallhave food and water given to you, and you will then leave the castle,and anyone found within the limits of the estate by nightfall willreceive no mercy."

  In an hour the last of the garrison had left the castle. The tenantson the estate at once dispersed to their homes, all receiving apresent from the count, and a promise of remission of half that year'sdues. His own vassals he kept there, to form, with his retainers, thegarrison until he could hire a sufficient force for that purpose. Atthe end of that time they could return to their ruined homes, Conradpromising them aid to rebuild their houses, and an entire remissionof all dues for the next two years. Conrad then drew up a document,addressed to the elector, stating what he had done, and enclosing acopy of the emperor's order, saying that he would himself present theoriginal when he visited the court of Treves. As he had anticipated,the elector's reply was favourable.

  "He had been," he said, "shocked at the conduct of the baron inattacking and ravaging the castle and estates of Waldensturm, and thepunishment inflicted upon him was a just one. He would, therefore,willingly accept Conrad as his vassal for the feoff of Goldstein, andbegged him to speedily repair to his court to take the oaths."

  Thus Conrad von Waldensturm revenged his wrongs, and obtained thefinest estate and the strongest castle in the Electorate of Treves.

  A RAID BY THE BLACKS

  A STORY OF AN OUTLYING STATION

  I begin to think we were wrong in coming so far out into the bush, butI was tempted by what Hawkins told me of the place, which he had comeacross when exploring the country. It seemed everything that could bedesired: plenty of water, timber for all purposes, and fine grazing;and I admit that it is all that he said. The blacks were quiet enoughthen, and, though it was a good bit beyond the nearest station, Ithought, when I came and had a look at the place, that it was wellworth risking. We have not done badly here. The sheep and cattle havepretty well doubled their number each year; the wool has paid all ourexpenses. Everything has been comfortable enough, except the difficultywe have had in bringing up groceries and flour. In another ten years,if all had gone well, I should have been a really prosperous man, witha big flock of sheep and a fine herd of cattle, to say nothing ofhorses; but now the blacks have got nasty I begin to think that I havemade a great mistake.

  "Have you heard any more bad news, William?" his wife asked anxiously.

  "Yes; Harry Read rode up half an hour ago, and said that he and hisbrother were going to drive their animals in, and take them to thestation of a friend of his forty miles nearer Sydney, till thingssettled down a bit, for he had heard that two or three stations hadbeen attacked by the blacks and every soul murdered. What do you think,wife? Shall we do the same?"

  Mrs. Roberts was a courageous woman. "I don't know what to say," shereplied. "We are getting on very well here. As you said, of course,we always knew that there was some risk. We could not have got a bigstation like this down-country without paying a large sum for it, farmore than we could have afforded. I think it would be a pity to giveit up at present. After all, we may not be attacked. You see, you havethree men now, and we only had one when we came here. You built thehouse specially for defence, with squared logs, and even logs for theroof, so that it could not be set on fire. We could get the shinglesoff in an hour and, as it is the dry season, I think it would be aswell to do that at once. I can shoot fairly well, and so can Effie,and with six rifles we ought to be able to keep off a mob of natives."

  "But how about the animals?" her husband said.

  "Well, I should say that the best plan would be to send the greaterpart of them away for a bit. Talbot has nothing like enough stock onhis place, and I have no doubt he would be glad to graze them for a bitat a very small rent. Of course, if you think it best, I am quite readyto give the place up, though in my opinion it would be a pity. Afterall, the chances of the blacks coming here are not great. There aredozens of other stations as exposed as we are. We have had two or threealarms before, but nothing has ever come of them."

  "I am glad that that is your opinion, wife, mine is exactly the same.Certainly, for my own sake I would a great deal rather stay here andtake my chances. It was of you and Effie that I was thinking. Well,then, we will consider it settled. I will ride down to Talbot's at onceand arrange with him. I shall get back late this evening. To-morrowmorning we will take a lot of the stock over there. Thompson shall gowith me to help to drive them down, but I shall bring him back, as itis as well to keep as strong a garrison here as possible. I can arrangewith Talbot that one of his men shall be specially told off to lookafter our animals. I will pick out three hundred of the best ewes anda few rams, a hundred cattle, and half a dozen of the best horses. Ineed not take more horses than that. They are all shy of a blackfellow,and there is not much fear of their being caught; so we need not botherabout them, especially as, if they were taken away to new ground, theywould give a lot more trouble than the sheep and cattle."

  Mr. Roberts had been a small landed proprietor in the old country,farming his own land. Times had been bad, and the failure of a bank,in which he had a few shares, had swept away not only all his readymoney, but had brought upon him heavy calls which he was unable tomeet. He had a brother who, some years before, had emigrated to NewSouth Wales, and he had given so favourable an account of the countrythat Mr. Roberts decided to sell his land and emigrate there with hiswife and two children, a boy and a girl. After meeting all claims, andpaying their passages out, he had arrived at Sydney with the sum of?3000. He had wisely determined not to risk more than a third of this,and, placing ?2000 in a bank, he had invested a thousand in sheep,cattle, and horses, and had taken up some land on the extreme borderof the settlement. He had now been there four years, and had been wellcontented with his choice. The site was an exceptionally pleasant one.A small stream ran through the property, which was better wooded thanmost of the land in that part. His stock had increased fourfold, andalthough there had been occasional reports of trouble with the blacks,they had hitherto met with no molestation whatever. Natives had comeand gone, and had always been hospitably received, and he certainly hadno reason to believe that there was anything but good feeling betweenthem and the inmates of the Springs, as the station was called, froma spring that rose some hundred and fifty yards away from the houseand was situated some feet above the floor level, the water bubblingup into a barrel which was sunk in the ground. A pipe whose end wasinserted in the barrel was buried underground, and through this thewater flowed, giving a constant supply to the house. Another pipeconveyed the water to a trough, which had been erected for the useof the animals kept at the station. The other animals watered at thestream.

  The boy, who was now fifteen, had been for the past two years atSydney, living at his uncle's and attending school. In another yearhe was to return to the station. He had gone most reluctantly, buthis father had said: "I can quite understand your liking this life,Ned, but I don't wish you to grow up simply a bush farmer. The colonyis increasing fast, and there will be plenty of openings for a youngfellow of intelligence and a fair education. I hope that by the timeyou grow up I shall be able to settle you on a farm like mine, andstock it well for you, if you decide upon following this sort of life,or to start you in any line that you may like to adopt in Sydney. Youhave had two years of running wild, and if you remain here you willspeedily forget what little you have learned; but in any case, threeyears at school will be a great advantage to you."

  Effie, the daughter, was now fourteen, a strong healthy girl who couldride any horse on the station, had been taught to use both pistol andrifle, and was as bold and fearless as a boy.

  It was late that night before Mr. Roberts returned, and the next day heand Thompson drove the stock down to Talbot's station, leaving strictinjunctions that the other men were not to go far from the house, andwere to keep the cattle and sheep in the stock-yard. He retu
rned thefollowing day, and for the next fortnight things went on as usual. Lateone night, however, in the third week, Effie knocked at her father'sdoor.

  "I think there is something the matter, father," she called. "Theanimals are all uneasy in the yard. I don't know what has disturbedthem, but they are evidently alarmed." In half a minute Mr. Robertsappeared at the door, and followed the girl to her room, which was atthe back of the house, overlooking the stock-yard.

  "There is certainly something wrong, Effie," he said, after listeningfor a moment. "The horses and cattle are both uneasy."

  He went downstairs to the room where the men slept. "Get up at once,"he said; "there is something the matter. The horses and cattle areuneasy; I am afraid it is the blacks. Throw on your clothes and takeyour guns. We will go out at once and take down all the bars, so thatif it is really the blacks the animals will have a chance of escaping.It is pitch dark, and even if there are some of them in the yard theyare not likely to see us."

  Two minutes later the door was very cautiously opened and the four menwent out. Effie barred it behind them, and then joined her mother, whohad hastily dressed. Both took their guns and went to Effie's window,which was already open.

  "We shall not be able to see where to fire, mother."

  "No, dear; but if the blacks do attack, we shall hear by their yellingwhereabouts they are, and can fire in that direction. We may not hitany of them, but it will confuse and alarm them. However, remember,when we hear any stir, the first thing for you to do is to run down tothe door in readiness to open it when your father and the men return."

  "The sheep are moving about now; they were quiet before, mother."

  "It is likely the blacks will begin there," Mrs. Roberts said. "Nodoubt they are hungry, and it is always sheep that they make for first.They will very likely kill some and have a feast before attacking. Itrust, however, that they may not attack at all. They must know thatthe house is a strong one, and may not care to risk their lives, buthave only come to drive off the stock. Still, I am afraid they will tryand attack, hoping we may be asleep and that they may gain entrancebefore we have time to get our rifles."

  Four or five minutes later a low whistle was heard outside. Effie randown and opened the door, when her father and the men at once enteredand the door was bolted behind them.

  "Well," Mr. Roberts said, "I fear there is no doubt that there areblacks about, and from the uneasiness of the animals I should say thereare a good number of them. However, we are warned, and I think thatthe surprise will be on their side and not on ours. We removed all thebars, so the animals can get away if they like. Also, I have locked thedoor of the stable. Except for the uneasiness of the animals we saw nosigns of the enemy at all. Now, the first thing to do is to get theshutters closed." This was at once done. Mr. Roberts had always been alittle nervous of trouble with the blacks, so in addition to buildinghis house of solid logs he had had strong loopholed shutters arrangedon all the windows of the lower story, which when closed were held intheir position by massive cross-bars.

  They discussed the best position for each to take in case of attack,and having arranged this, one of the men went up to keep a look-outfrom the upper windows, while the rest of the party remained chattingin the sitting-room. "I wish there was a moon," Mr. Roberts said; "itis so dark that we shall be firing quite at random."

  "Could we not make some sort of a torch," Effie suggested, "that wouldlight up the place outside?"

  "That is a first-rate idea, Effie; but how are we to manage it?"

  The party sat silent for some minutes, then Effie said: "There isplenty of wool. How would it be to make a bundle of it about as big asmy head, wind it round with wire, then soak it in paraffin. When thenatives come we have only to put a match to it and throw it outside."

  "Very good indeed, Effie," her father said; "let us try to carry outthe idea at once, and as all the materials are to hand it will nottake us long." In half an hour six of the balls were finished. Eachhad a short length of wire by which it could be thrown through thewindow. Fortunately there was plenty of paraffin, and a bucket beingfilled with it, the balls were soaked one after another, and were thencarried upstairs each in a separate basin. "We shall have to be verycareful how we throw them," Mr. Roberts said, "or else we shall besetting ourselves on fire. Thompson, you are, I think, the worst shotof the lot, as you are rather short-sighted. I will therefore trustthis business to you. Have an old blanket ready to beat out any of theburning oil that may drop on the floor. Be careful also to keep as muchin shelter as possible, some of the blacks are sure to have bows ready."

  "All right, boss! you need not fear, I will look out. Now, as I am tobe on duty upstairs, I might as well go up at once and send James down.I think, boss, you had better take post at the loopholes now, you maycatch sight of one of the varmints against the sky-line. I will throw aball as soon as I hear the first shot."

  All was quiet for a quarter of an hour, then Effie suddenly fired. Theshot was followed by a wild yell outside, and dozens of dark figuresleaped to their feet and bounded towards the door, and strove to breakit in with their waddies and axes. The defenders were all hard at work,and an occasional yell of pain showed that their bullets were takingeffect. Suddenly there was an even wilder yell as a brilliant ball offire fell twenty yards from the house, lighting up the front of italmost as if it were day. Every shot told now, and in a minute thenatives fled with wild bounds outside the circle of light, but losingheavily before they vanished into the darkness.

  "Well, I do not think they will try that game again," Mr. Robertssaid when the firing ceased, and after shaking hands wildly all roundthey sat down. "I did not expect them to attack so boldly. It isquite contrary to their usual habits, and if it had not been for thefire-ball I do not know how things would have gone. That was a splendididea, Effie. Why, you ought to set up as an inventor!"

  There was no further attack, but two hours later one of the men onwatch thought he heard a movement in the neighbourhood of the spring,but on firing a shot in that direction all was quiet, and there was nofurther disturbance till day broke.

  Soon after daylight all the party except the man on watch sat down tobreakfast and discussed the events of the night.

  "What do you think they will do next, father?" Effie asked.

  "I do not know whether they will hunt down the cattle and horses, anddrive them off, or whether they will hang round here for a time; itis difficult to say. At any rate I don't think we have any cause foruneasiness, except so far as touches one's pockets. It is lucky,indeed, that we shifted more than half our animals to Talbot's.Henceforth we must divide into two parties, and keep watch by turn,for we have provisions enough to last for a couple of months. They hadonly one chance, and that was to set the place on fire; but that wepractically did away with when we took the shingles off the roof. Theywould never venture to bring sticks and fire up to the doors in theteeth of our rifles."

  Two hours passed quietly, then loud yells were heard, and a number ofspecks of fire shot through the air.

  "Blazing arrows," the settler said quietly. "I expect they have a whiteman among them, an escaped convict, of course, and he has put them upto this. I don't fancy they use fire-arrows, though of course they maydo so. Well, they can amuse themselves as long as they like; they maygo on for four-and-twenty hours, but they will never set those beams onfire."

  For ten minutes the flight of arrows continued. Those below could hearthe constant tapping as the missiles struck the roof. At the end ofthat time they ceased to fall, the natives evidently recognizing thatfor some reason or other their attempt was a complete failure. Theymade no more efforts, but small groups of them could be seen out onthe plain in pursuit of the animals. These, however, were evidentlyalarmed by the shouts and proceedings of the night before, and made offat the top of their speed whenever the natives approached. The horseswere especially wild, and kept a considerable distance away.

  "It will take them a good many days to gather them in," Mr. Robertssai
d grimly. "Fortunately your horses and mine, Effie, are safe in theshed, and as we fastened the door, and it is commanded by the loopholesin the shutters on that side of the house, as long as we hold out theywill be safe. As soon as the rascals have gone off I will ride intothe settlements, get a dozen men to help us, and then we will set offin pursuit. I should think that by to-morrow at latest they are likelyto give it up as a bad job. They must know that they have no chance ofstarving us out."

  The blacks, however, evinced no intention of leaving. They could beseen moving about among the trees. By the smoke that rose in thatdirection it was evident that they had kindled large fires, but thesewere so far within the bush that their exact position could not be madeout. A shot was fired from time to time when a black showed himself,but this was done rather for the purpose of showing that the besiegedwere on the watch than with the hope of hitting the quickly-movingfigure. The main body of the sheep were huddled out on the plain halfa mile away under the charge of two of the blacks. Leaving Mrs. Robertsand Effie on the watch, the rest of the party now went out and draggedthe bodies of the natives who had been killed some distance from thehouse, and covered them with a thick layer of earth. Two or three ofthe sheep had been killed by chance shots, and these were carried in,skinned, and hung up.

  "That will be ample to last us," the colonist said; "they will be offlong before these are eaten. This evening it is likely they will bemaking a great feast, but I expect to-morrow morning they will be offto carry out some fresh rascality elsewhere. If I thought they intendedto stop here longer, I would try to get through them to-night to fetchhelp."

  "I wouldn't do that, boss, in any case," one of the men said. "That isjust what they are thinking you will try to do, and I warrant they willbe as thick as peas round the place to-night."

  The next morning, however, it was seen that the blacks had no intentionof moving at present. Parties of twos and threes were starting acrossthe plain, evidently with the intention of driving in some of thecattle.

  "I cannot make it out," one of the men said rather anxiously; "I can'tthink what their game can be. As a rule they strike a blow, have a bigfeast, and then are off at once, driving the sheep before them. It isquite contrary to their nature to loiter about like this. They mustbe up to some move or other, though what it is I cannot guess, forthey must know well enough that they have not the ghost of a chance oftaking this place. I feel sure they have got a white man with them.I caught a glimpse of a fellow who seemed to be dressed in white'sclothes. He was well in among the trees, but I took a shot at him. Itwas not broad daylight and it was dark under the trees, so I could notswear to his being white; but if he wasn't he was some black who hadrigged himself out in the clothes of some poor beggar they killed atthe last station."

  In a few minutes they saw a number of blacks sally out from the wood.They planted themselves in small parties in a circle of half a mileround the farm, and presently all lay down and crept to within halfthat distance.

  "They are determined that we sha'n't get away," Mr. Roberts saidgrimly. "Happily we do not want to do so."

  As he spoke his wife's voice was heard.

  "Come down, William, come down!"

  There was no question that something was wrong. The settler ran below,and he saw by his wife's face that it was something very serious.

  "What is it, Jane?" he asked anxiously.

  "There is no water," she exclaimed. "I went to the tap to get some forthe kettle; a quart or two trickled out and then it stopped."

  Her husband stood stupefied at the news.

  "I thought yesterday that it was not running as fast as usual, but Idid not give it a second thought."

  "They must have done something to the spring. Some of the natives whohave been here must have noticed you drawing water, and have told otherblackfellows of the water running out from the side of a wall wheneveryou wanted it. If there is a white man among them he would, when heheard the story, be sure that water was obtained from a spring. Hewould hear about a barrel being sunk in the ground, and I have no doubtthat, after their attack failed the night before last, he had the pipestopped up. If you recollect, James thought he heard somebody up thereand fired. I have no doubt it was then that they played this trick.There would be enough water in the pipe itself to supply us yesterday;now it has come to an end. This accounts for their stopping here. It isa terrible blow, and it may be a fatal one."

  He then went up to the men and explained what had happened. All saw howserious the position had at once become.

  "We must hold on till the last, sir," one of them said. "You may besure that they would spare none of us after losing so many of their menthe other night."

  "My wife says there is rather over two quarts of water left. We mustcontent ourselves with half a pint a day; that would last us for threedays. When we are thirsty we must chew some of the raw meat; in thatway we ought to be able to hold out for four or five days. Before thattime the news that we are besieged here may reach the settlements, orsome of our friends may ride over. We will fire a rifle every fiveminutes or so to give them warning that something is up, and they willtake care not to fall into an ambush, and as soon as they find howmatters stand will ride back and bring help."

  It was but a feeble ground for hope, but all agreed that it mighthappen as he said.

  "Do you think that there is any chance of getting through, Mr. Roberts?I could try if you like," Thompson said.

  "I should say not the slightest; and now we know what they reckon upon,you may be sure that the whole of them are pretty close round the houseat night. They are as cunning as cats at their own work, and a manwould be riddled with spears before he had gone twenty yards."

  Effie had gone up after her father, and listened in silence to theconversation. Suddenly she said: "You forget the apples, father. Surelythey would do to quench our thirst."

  "Capital, Effie! I had forgotten all about them. There are six barrelsin the cellar, and with their aid we can hold out for a long time.That alters the position altogether." There was a general exclamationof satisfaction from the men; the grimness of their faces relaxed, andthey shook hands heartily in their relief at their escape from whatthey all felt was a terrible danger.

  Two days passed. The cordon round the house was steadily maintained.Shots were fired every five minutes, but the natives all lay undershelter, and there was no sign that the firing had had any effect.Several times the possibility of making a dash through them on one ofthe horses was discussed, but each time was negatived. The alarm wouldbe given as soon as the horse was led out from the stable, and theblackfellows would have time to gather at any point.

  Effie went out twice a day with food for the horses, and each timecarried a dozen large apples in her apron, which she gave them afterthey had eaten their corn. On the evening of the second day she tookwith her a bottle of oil, with which she carefully lubricated thehinges of the door and the padlock. The first day she had said toherself over and over again: "If Jack were here I am sure he wouldmanage to get out." On the second day she said to herself: "If Jackcould do so why shouldn't I? We may hold out till they go away, but ifwe do they will go somewhere else and kill some other settlers; whileif we could but give them a lesson they might not come again for a longtime." She waited another day in hopes that the blacks would leave.When they did not do so, she decided to make the attempt that night.

  On leaving the stable she put the padlock into its place, but didnot lock it; then she wrote a line to leave in her room, telling herparents what she had done. She had, during the day, taken out a suit ofher brother's clothes, which fitted her fairly well. She had alreadysaddled her horse, and put his bridle on. When she went up to bed shechanged her clothes, knowing that it would be far easier to crawl inboy's clothes than in her own. Her window had been open all day, andshe now fastened two blankets firmly together, tied one end to the legof a table by the window, and after waiting until she knew that all thehouse, with the exception of the two men on guard, were fairly asleep,she
slid down the blanket. It was but some ten feet to the ground. Shewas now within a few yards of the stable, which was built facing thehouse. She opened the door, noiselessly felt her way to her horse, andled it to the door. Then she laid the reins across his neck, strokedhis nose--a signal which he well understood was an order for him tostand still until she whistled for him,--and then she lay down andcrawled noiselessly along. She had left her shoes behind her lest theyshould scrape against the wall while she descended.

  The night was pitch dark, and she progressed very slowly, pausing for amoment after each step she made, to listen for the sound of breathing,or for some movement that would tell her she was near one of the enemy.Once or twice she heard slight sounds and changed her course. As it wasthe stock-yard she was crossing, there was no vegetation by brushingagainst which she might cause a rustling of leaves. She had, on leavingthe stable, made first for the bars dividing the sheep from the horses,judging that the natives would be thickest round the entrance to thehorse-pen, as it was through this a horseman would naturally pass onhis way out. Once through, she kept for the most part close to thebars, as she would thus be less likely to be observed than if shecrossed the open. So she kept on until she came to the outer bars. Hereshe lay for some time listening intently. She heard murmured sounds onboth sides of her, but especially towards the gates of the sheep-yard.At last, convinced that no one could be within some yards of her, shecrawled under the lower bar and kept straight on. She had the comfortof knowing that it was not for any slight sound the blacks would belistening, but for the opening of the door of the house or stables. Shecrawled for a good quarter of a mile before she felt assured that shewas well beyond the cordon of natives.

  Then she stood up, put the whistle she always carried to her lips, andblew twice, sharply and loudly. In the stillness of the night she couldinstantly hear the sound of a horse's feet. Then there was a burst ofyells and shouts. This continued, but the rapid tramp of hoofs kepton. She whistled again, and a minute later the horse dashed up to her.She sprang on his back with a word of encouragement, patted him onthe neck, and then set off at full speed. A hundred yards behind, theblacks were running as hard as they could, filling the air with theirshouts, but she felt that she was safe now. The strong steady paceshowed her that the horse could not have sustained any serious injury.This indeed was the case. So swiftly was the distant whistle followedby the approach of the galloping horse that the blacks had scarce timeto take up their spears and waddies when the animal dashed throughthem, scattering those in its path like chaff before him. Spears hadbeen thrown, but they were aimed high, at the rider who they believedwas in the saddle, and only one had slightly grazed the animal's back.The girl took a circuit, lest some of the blacks should be on the road,and knowing every foot of the country she regained the track two milesfarther on, at which time she had eased down to a speed which she knewthe horse could maintain for a long time. The forty miles between theSprings and Talbot's farm were performed under four hours. Leaping fromthe horse she knocked at the door, and a voice from an upper windowsoon asked: "Who's there, and what is wanted?" A few words explainedher errand. She heard Mr. Talbot's voice shouting to the men, and soonthe door was opened.

  "Besieged for four days by blacks, Miss Roberts! I never heard of theirdoing such a thing before. Have you had hard fighting?"

  "No; they made a rush at first, but we easily beat them off. But theycut off our water-supply, and have been lying round to prevent anyof us getting away, making sure that we should have to give in fromthirst. Fortunately we have plenty of apples and could keep going foranother fortnight. They have a white man with them, and no doubt itwas he who put them up to cutting the water-pipe. Will you send out toall the settlers round? I am going to ride on to Pickford to fetch theconstabulary there."

  EFFIE GIVES THE ALARM]

  "No, indeed!" Mr. Talbot said; "you have done enough for to-night. Iwill start at once for Pickford, and my men will go off to the settlersround. We shall have at least twenty or five-and-twenty here by nineo'clock to-morrow. I will leave one of my men here, and my wife willlook after you, and make you comfortable. It is past two o'clock now.I shall be at Pickford by six, and by ten or eleven Lieutenant Jordanand his twelve men will arrive. I have plenty of horses in the yard,and while the police are having breakfast we can change the saddles.We won't hurry on the way to your place, as we shall want the horsesto be pretty fresh, so as to take up the pursuit of the blacks. Anhour one way or another will make no difference to your people, as theblacks will hardly attack in daylight. Of course they may make a finalattempt to take the place to-night, for your escape will tell them thatthey have no time to lose. I should not be surprised if they make offthe first thing in the morning. However, we will follow them up, andare certain to overtake them if they try, as no doubt they will, tocarry off some of the cattle and sheep. Jordan will be delighted at thechance of giving them a lesson that will keep them quiet for some timeto come. I won't stop now to ask you how you got out; you can tell usabout that as we ride back with you."

  Mrs. Talbot had now come down, and in a few minutes Effie was in bed,having the satisfaction, before she retired, of hearing five mountedmen ride off at full gallop, and of knowing that her horse had beenwell cared for. She was up at eight and assisting Mrs. Talbot toprepare breakfast for the expected arrivals. It was not long before thefirst comers rode in, all eager to rescue the party at the Springs, andto inflict a heavy blow upon the natives. Each, on the arrival of Mr.Talbot's messengers, had sent off men in other directions, and by nineo'clock thirty had arrived. All carried rifles and pistols, and eachbrought a led horse with him, as Mr. Talbot had told the men to suggestthat they should do so, for they would not be able to obtain remountsat the Springs, and as they might have to follow up the blacks for aconsiderable distance it was well that each should have two horses.

  As Effie felt shy about appearing in boy's clothes, Mrs. Talbot lenther a blouse and skirt. Great was the admiration expressed when shetold how she had undertaken on her own account to fetch assistance,and how she had successfully carried out the attempt. Mr. Talbot,with the party of police, came in at eleven o'clock, by which time adozen more settlers, who lived at a greater distance than the earliercomers, had also arrived; after a halt for half an hour to give thepolice a chance of a meal, the whole party started. The horses of thepolice had a good feed, and each trooper was furnished with anothermount from Mr. Talbot's yard. These their officer decided had betterbe led until they reached the Springs, and they would then be able tostart in pursuit on comparatively fresh animals. Effie, of course, rodewith them. Although she felt certain that all was well, she was in afever of excitement to get home. She knew her parents would be veryanxious about her. Her absence would have been discovered directly shestarted, as the outburst of the yells would have caused all to catchup their rifles and run to the windows. If, as Mr. Talbot had thoughtlikely, the natives, on finding that she had got off safely, had madean attack upon the house, the defenders would feel assured that she hadgot safely away, and in any case the absence of any yells of exultationwould be almost proof that she had succeeded. It was just four o'clockwhen they reached the Springs. No signs of the blacks had been metwith, and as the party rode down the slope towards the house, Mr.Roberts, his wife, and the men ran out to receive them.

  "You have frightened us horribly, Effie," her father said, after thefirst greetings, "but we felt sure that you must have got away. Wecould not tell that you would not be overtaken, though we had everyhope that you were safe. Thompson, who was on watch on that side,declared that he heard one of the horses gallop off just before the rowbegan, and before that he had heard what he was sure was your whistlesome distance away, but he could not tell that the horse had got safelythrough, or that he had not been so severely injured as to be unableto carry you far. Thank God that it has all turned out well! You oughtnot to have made the attempt without consulting us, and you may be verysure that we should not have allowed you to try if you had."

>   "That was just why I did not do so, father," the girl said. "No onecould have done it but I, because neither of the horses would haveanswered to the whistle. Besides, being so much smaller and lighter, Ihad a better chance of getting through."

  "You must not scold her, Roberts," Mr. Talbot, who had been standingclose by, said. "She has done a splendid action, and you and her motherought to be proud of her. She will be regarded as a heroine by thewhole district."

  While they were speaking, the police-officer had been questioning themen, and learnt that a few minutes after the girl left there had beena fierce attack on the house, which had been repulsed with the loss ofsome fifteen of the assailants, and that, when day broke, the nativeshad been seen making off in the distance with fifty or sixty cattle,and a flock of two or three hundred sheep. No time was lost. Bags offlour and parcels of tea and sugar were made up. No meat was taken, asthe natives were sure to spear any animals that could not keep up withthe main flock. The saddles were all shifted to the horses that werebeing led, and half an hour after their arrival the party were in theirsaddles again, Mr. Roberts riding his own horse and his men three thatthe blacks had been unable to catch, but which had remained close tothe station, and which were now easily driven in. It was not thoughtnecessary to leave any guard at the farm, and when it was proposed,Mrs. Roberts laughed at the idea.

  "The blacks have all gone," she said, "but if there are a few stilllurking about, Effie and I can easily defend the house. We will takecare not to stir out till you return."

  Three days later the party returned. They had overtaken the blacks onthe evening of the day after starting, had killed at least half ofthem, including their white leader, and had recovered all the animals.So sharp was the lesson that the Roberts family were never afterwardstroubled by a hostile visit from the natives.

  Transcriber's Note:

  Italics are indicated by _underscores_.

  Small capitals have been rendered in full capitals.

  A number of minor spelling errors have been corrected without note.

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